U.S. lawyer for bin Laden son-in-law pleads guilty in tax case
ALBANY, N.Y. — The lawyer who represented Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law at his recent terrorism trial pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of impeding the U.S. tax agency.
Stanley Cohen, 63, who was accused of under-reporting cash payments from clients, entered the plea on the day his trial was scheduled to begin. He said the trial and any appeals would have been a “tremendous” financial burden.
Cohen was also the lawyer representing the Mohawk Warrior Society during the Oka and Akwesasne standoffs.
Under the plea agreement, Cohen faces up to 18 months in prison at sentencing, which was scheduled for Aug. 21. He remains free until then. The plea agreement says he will admit in federal court in Manhattan, where his law practice is based, to misdemeanour charges of failing to file federal tax returns in 2006 and 2007.
He also will lose his law license but can reapply for it after he is out of prison.
“I plead to being an enemy of the fascist state,” Cohen told The Associated Press on Monday after leaving court. “This I believe has been a massive witch hunt for more than a decade. And I believe, as much as anything, it was designed to buy up my time ... and get my license ... and to silence me.”
Federal prosecutors said Cohen filed no state or federal tax returns for six years, requested a filing extension each year and made a modest payment toward taxes due and essentially kept no financial records while his bank accounts showed nearly $3.7 million in deposits.
The agreement requires he provide timely and accurate tax information to the IRS for 2005 to 2010.